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Don't Leave: The Best Thing Cleveland has is LeBron James

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June 30, 2010

June 30, 2010
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By Josh Dhani

The city of Cleveland is simply a cursed place. Well, at least when you refer to sports. The Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts, led by Jim Brown, in a title game. It was back in the 1960′s. Since then, no professional Cleveland sports team has ever won a championship.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have never been good at all. Before LeBron James, the main highlight of the Cavs was Michael Jordan’s game-winner over the team. Same goes for the Cleveland Browns, who were known for those losses to the Denver Broncos. The Drive, the Fumble. And the Indians? Yeah, they are good, but they can never got a World Series win. And it seems the Chicago Cubs will get one before them.

Just simply put it that the city of Cleveland is cursed. We already have blogs out there that have something to do with the Cleveland sports curse. Here’s a couple blogs to name a few: CurseofCleveland.com, ClevelandFrowns.com, and WaitingforNextYear.com.

So far, the best thing Cleveland has is LeBron James. He led the 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers to their first 60-win season. But they couldn’t get the ring. Before that, the Cavs made it to the NBA Finals, but their run ended short by getting swept from the San Antonio Spurs. It was the first team a Cleveland sports team made it to a championship game since the Browns in the 1960′s.

And LeBron James helped make that happen. Now you have it that he is The King or that he is the Akron Hammer. But the small forward’s legacy is still not satisfied. He needs a ring. And now, there are a bunch of opportunities coming for him, as he has a chance to go to teams like the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, and others.

But really. Even if LeBron wins three rings over there, his legacy still won’t be great. If I were LeBron, I’d rather take four rings in Cleveland than ten rings with another team. Why? Well, to all the sports critics out there: if James brings a title to Cleveland, nobody can beat his legacy except maybe His Airness. I’d like to see anybody else bring a title to Cleveland.

Even with one ring, James can be considered one of the best to ever play the game of basketball. Why? Because it’s Cleveland. And now, all the hype is here. It’s the blockbuster free agency. And what should LeBron do? Should it be New York? What should it be?

It’s Cleveland.

Sure, James may have been shocked when the fans booed him in Game Five of the NBA Semifinals Round of the Playoffs versus the Boston Celtics. We know what happened there. And if he goes to a city like New York, Los Angeles, or New Jersey, the fans will be putting way too much pressure. And if he doesn’t fulfill the fans, he’ll be considered a failure.

I don’t think James can handle that. I don’t think he can handle leaving his hometown more. Everything was made here. Why else is he already being considered better than Kobe Bryant or the next coming of Michael Jordan, even without a ring? It’s Cleveland. And, yes, this is a bit of exaggeration, but if he wins a ring with Cleveland: he’ll be the emperor of Ohio. Fans will praise him all over Ohio.

It’ll be more hyped than Joe Namath bringing a Super Bowl to the city of New York when he dropped the Indianapolis Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

James’ legacy will be just amazing. Face it: having one ring in Cleveland is a lot bigger than three rings in Miami. Like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James has to stay. He has a lot coming for him. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Shaquille O’Neal and Delonte West will be gone. The Cavs will find a way to deal Mo Williams.

There’s a possibility of sending maybe Antwan Jamison, Mo Williams, and maybe some cash to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Chris Bosh and/or Jose Calderon. This would mean a lot.

LeBron James should also pick Cleveland because of the money. Hell, he could receive $30M more than what the other teams can offer as their max. Which is why LeBron should do a lower salary to possibly bring in another player. I just have a feeling that James should lower his salary to bring in one more guy.

Who can that guy be? If Joe Johnson wants to win a championship, maybe he could come over to Cleveland. The Cavs have the cap space. Or maybe Raymond Felton. Josh Childress? It’s possible. They could also get maybe Michael Beasley or Jermaine O’Neal. Udonis Haslem could also be an option.

I also have a trade scenario. The Cavs could trade Mo Williams and some cash to the Indiana Pacers to Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts. Something like that. But I think the Raptors’ trade would make a lot more sense.

Right now, the free agency is less than ten hours away or something along those lines. James should be making the decision already of staying in his hometown.

James wants to be considered a hero and if he wants to be praised and loved by all over the nation…